Asian markets trade higher in early deals on Monday

31 Dec 2018 Evaluate

Asian market indices are trading higher in early deals on Monday, closing in on their worst year since 2011, rose with US futures on the last day of 2018 after US President Donald Trump reported big progress in trade talks with his Chinese counterpart. Investors also digested news that China's manufacturing activity contracted in December. The latest survey from the National Bureau of Statistics said that the manufacturing sector in China fell into contraction in December, with a PMI score of 49.4. That's down from the no-change mark of 50.0 in November, falling beneath that mark and into contraction. A score above 50 signals expansion. Among the other Asian markets, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Malaysia are higher. Several other regional bourses are closed for New Year's Eve, including Japan, Malaysia, Taiwan, South Korea, China, and Indonesia.

Hang Seng added 341.50 points or 1.34% to 25,845.70, and Straits Times up by 15.33 points or 0.50% to 3,068.76.

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